Evaluation introduction

My brief was to create a 2 minute long opening sequence to a thriller that combined all of the different micro elements to insure it is successfully conventional to the thriller genre, as well as making our characters relatable and build relationships with our audience.

I worked in a group of three including me, Meghan Stone and Kerry Boyne. Within the production our the thriller there were many different roles. These included the director who looks after the overall running of the production and gives direction; the actors who are the people who are in the thriller opening sequence representing our characters; the director of photography who was in charge of the camera; the MES co-ordinator who was in charge of everything seen on set such as costumes, hair and make up, lighting, iconography, facial expressions and positioning of characters; a screen play writer who creates the narrative and may slightly adapt it when filming if things are not working; the editor who is in charge of putting all of the different frames together and making the sequence flow they can add sound, speed up scenes or slow them down; producer who is in charge of finding filming locations and making sure they are appropriate. 

Within the group we allocated out the roles so that we all had more of a focus, this lead to each role being properly fulfilled.

My responsibilities include the director of photography, I was chosen for this role as I had the most experience with a camera due to me filming the preliminary task and doing GCSE photography, this meant that I understood how to use the cameras better then others in my group. 

Furthermore, I was responsible for being the director as because I had the camera I had a good view what the sequence looked like overall, making it easier to change things and see what was working well. 

My final role was being the MES co-ordinator, this I is because most of the conventional representation of characters and iconography was my idea which meant I had a good understanding of where everything should have been and looked. Such as the antagonists mask.

Meghan's responsibilities included being the producer as she had wide knowledge of various locations we could use to film our sequence, which made it easier when deciding where to film frames. 

Secondly, as she watches many thriller films she was sound producer because she knew what was conventional. 

Lastly, she acted as our antagonist for half of the sequence due to our other antagonist being unavailable. 

Kerry's roles included being the screen play writer, as we agreed that most our narrative sprung from her ideas which meant she held a strong understanding of what should be happening. 

Her next role was the editor, this is because she edited our preliminary task which meant she had a much better understanding on final cut pro x because she had used it before.

From my roles as director of photography, director and MES co-ordinator I have learnt that it is really important to be properly organised when creating a thriller opening and how to organise people to insure maximum productivity. I have also learnt that when filming, it takes quite a few shots to achieve the desired outcome, therefore it took quite a bit longer then we thought. I also learned some management skills, as at some points thing were not getting done and time would be wasted by people talking therefore I took charge at some points. 

I think the overall we did worked quite well as a group however I think that communication could have been better so that the whole group was involved in each step. At points poor communication by some members meant that not everybody was as included in all of the stages as they would have had like to have been, and filming was done without them evening being aware or told.  But in the end, we managed to agree on all of the frames used and sound and editing used in the sequence. And worked well together on set, bouncing ideas from one another and trialling different things. Additionally, when showing our finished sequence to our target audience, the feedback received was all positive, showing that would thriller was successful and this would not have happened if we didn't work well together. 

I personally think that our thriller opening sequence was very successful as it included conventional micro elements that helped to build up tension, suspense, surprise and shock. This also helped us to engage our audience and for them to build a relationship with the characters. Cinematography, such as close ups of the victims face when we first see her, panning shots of the house at the begin of the sequence and over the shoulder shots where we are looking over the shoulder of the killer chasing the victim further helped the success of the thriller by engaging the audience and helping to tell our narrative. Sound also helped the success of the sequence for example the diegetic sound of breathing from the victim when she is running through the forest and the non-diegetic sound of the door creaking when the victim is escaping from the house. These both help the audience to follow the narrative, which creates more suspense. The final element that I think made our sequence massively successful was the relatable representations of characters which lead to the audience putting themselves in the shoes of our victim when they first see her tied up in the antagonists house as the feel sorry for her. Also the feel anger at the antagonist as he is killing an innocent girl, which creates tension.

Evalution - Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full task?
My preliminary task was to film and produce a short sequence of a conversation. I got given a few shots that i had to include; such as an over the shoulder shot and panning shot.
The purpose of producing a preliminary task is to get to grips with the tripod and camera and the features on it such as zooming in and out and watching back film. Also this meant when I began to film my thriller sequence any problems I may have encountered I should have seen in the preliminary task and know how to overcome them. Furthermore, I had never used a tripod before so it was useful to see how to achieve different shots and angles such as a high angled shot. Also I learnt how far or close I needed to be from the sequence subject to fit it all in frame. 

I learnt quite a few things while filming my preliminary task. For example; I learned that a lot of room is needed on set to achieve shots such as a long shot/panning so that everything desired can be fit in the frame. However, I over come this by deeply considering the location of my thriller before filming; ensuring there would be enough room to film. I also learned that sounds are picked up easily on the camera, therefore everybody on set had to be quite so that they was not recorded on the camera. One of the most important things that my preliminary task has taught me is that actors should not look into the camera lens as it looks unrealistic. So before filming my thriller I told all of my actors not to look into the camera. I learnt how to do an over the shoulder shot well, to do this i had to place the camera behind an actor and focus on something in front of the actor.

I acquired many skills while doing my preliminary task. Firstly, it showed me how to set up my tripod stand and attach the camera securely. This saved time when it came to filming my thriller sequence as I didn't have to mess around setting up the camera.  Additionally, I have learnt that to fit everything desired in frame the tripod has to have quite a bit of room. Therefore when i was filming my thriller i had fitted my tripod well so that i achieved my desired shots. 

Evaluation - question 6

Evaluation - Question 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PqbWHifckA

How did you attract/address your target audience?

I attracted/addressed my target audience by researching into the thriller genre and my target audience. Primary research is important to me because it gave me gave me current and up to date information regarding the needs and wants of my target audience and what they enjoy, that is specific to what I want to find out.

I created a questionnaire of roughly 40 people to find out their views and opinions on thrillers and conventions. I asked a range of questions to find out specific information in what they think makes a successful thriller. Such as “do you find a female victim more vulnerable” to which 92% of people asked said yes, therefore I considered this and had a female victim in my thriller. Also I asked if “do you think a chase scene creates suspense” to this 72% of people answered yes, this really helped me as I wasn’t sure whether including a chase scene was a good idea but from this it confirmed that it was. This primary research allowed us to quickly find out views and opinions from a range of people. Firstly, I designed my questionnaire and carefully chose questions to include that would get the best information possible. Then I went and asked the questions to random people (some were filmed as voxpops to show more detailed answers). Once all of the information had been gathered I put the questions into graphs and this allowed me to see what was most popular and what I should include. Finally, I created a blog on my primary research discussing what I found out and what inspirations were taken. From this research I took away that my audience find female victims more vulnerable. Therefore I have decided that my victim will be female as it will cause the most tension. Also I have decided to include a chase scene as over half of the people sad that it helps to build up suspense. I saw that only a few people that I asked like thrillers due to there being lots of gore therefore I have decided that this is not a feature I will focus on.

Some other primary research that I carried out was analysing a variety of thrillers, will carefully focusing on different micro elements each time.  For example, while researching into thriller conventions I focused on the thriller film The Shining. This is a very successful thriller; therefore I carefully looked at what key conventions were incorporated into it. Two of the main inspiration that’s I got for this thriller is to have a male antagonist and an isolated setting. This is because these will both help to build up tension.

Primary and secondary research has helped me to see what content should be included in my thriller to make it as successful as possible. Also it has shown me what my target audience expect to see and what would be most effective. Allowing me to mould and develop my sequence to what I believe will make it most successful.I attracted/addressed my target audience by researching into the thriller genre and my target audience. Primary research is important to me because it gave me gave me current and up to date information regarding the needs and wants of my target audience and what they enjoy, that is specific to what I want to find out.

I created a questionnaire of roughly 40 people to find out their views and opinions on thrillers and conventions. I asked a range of questions to find out specific information in what they think makes a successful thriller. Such as “do you find a female victim more vulnerable” to which 92% of people asked said yes, therefore I considered this and had a female victim in my thriller. Also I asked if “do you think a chase scene creates suspense” to this 72% of people answered yes, this really helped me as I wasn’t sure whether including a chase scene was a good idea but from this it confirmed that it was. This primary research allowed us to quickly find out views and opinions from a range of people. Firstly, I designed my questionnaire and carefully chose questions to include that would get the best information possible. Then I went and asked the questions to random people (some were filmed as voxpops to show more detailed answers). Once all of the information had been gathered I put the questions into graphs and this allowed me to see what was most popular and what I should include. Finally, I created a blog on my primary research discussing what I found out and what inspirations were taken. From this research I took away that my audience find female victims more vulnerable. Therefore I have decided that my victim will be female as it will cause the most tension. Also I have decided to include a chase scene as over half of the people sad that it helps to build up suspense. I saw that only a few people that I asked like thrillers due to there being lots of gore therefore I have decided that this is not a feature I will focus on.

Some other primary research that I carried out was analysing a variety of thrillers, will carefully focusing on different micro elements each time.  For example, while researching into thriller conventions I focused on the thriller film The Shining. This is a very successful thriller; therefore I carefully looked at what key conventions were incorporated into it. Two of the main inspiration that’s I got for this thriller is to have a male antagonist and an isolated setting. This is because these will both help to build up tension.

Primary and secondary research has helped me to see what content should be included in my thriller to make it as successful as possible. Also it has shown me what my target audience expect to see and what would be most effective. Allowing me to mould and develop my sequence to what I believe will make it most successful.

Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation - Question 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdt7B-g67d8

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

A target audience is who a product/service is aimed at, this is important because it helps to structure the features and content allowed in it. Therefore, deciding on a target audience has massively helped to shape and structure my thriller. This is because there are certain things that are not suitable for younger people; therefore I had to choose an appropriate target audience. Choosing a target audience would also allow me to decide what BBFC age classification my film would have. Different aged people have different content that appeals to them, I saw this when I conducted my survey and produced my results as the older people I asked tend to say that they enjoyed a gory/horror thriller, which is a common sub-genre in many older thrillers. Whereas the younger people I asked said they enjoyed a psychological thriller which is the sub-genre I chose for my sequence.

I decided that my target audience would be 15 years old plus. I came to this decision by closely anaylsising the BBFC age classifications and seeing what content was allowed in each classification. Also I reviewed the survey I conducted and saw what things people wanted and expected me to include in my thriller sequence. Additionally, I knew what sort of features I wanted to include and the allowed me to see what classification and age group would enjoy my thriller most. Because I am a similar age to my desired target audience I could see that the content and features that I wanted to include would be suitable for me and would cause tension and suspense.

The main reason that my thriller would appeal to my target audience is that they would be a similar age to our female victim, a female victim is a key thriller convention.  This means they would be able to relate to her and put themselves in her shoes. This would increase the tension within the sequence. As a result my thriller would be more successful as they would be more engaged with her emotions. 

Also the low key lighting used throughout would engage them and causes suspense because everything on the screen is not always clear, which mirrors our narrative as the outcome for the girl is not always clear. An example of low key lighting used in my thriller would be at 1:45 when the killer is walking towards the camera and it is a close up shot of his face/mask. 
 The target audience will further be able to relate to the teenage girl victim as most people would have been somewhere where they feel completely alone, which means they will be able to relate to how the girl would feel and the house being in an isolated setting. This builds the suspense as they know that there is nobody around to help the girl. They will be able to compare what they were feeling to what the victim must be feeling.

Also because of the hidden identity of the killer, which is a thriller convention, the victim never knows whether it is a personal attack or general, which allows the audience to relate to situations they have been in, as they are of a similar age. Also this convention will keep the audience engage in the sequence as they will be guessing who the killer is.



I used many close ups of the victim so that the audience can follow her emotion in the sequence and it also allows the audience to see that she feels scared throughout, which builds tension as it shows that she feels danger all the way until the end of the sequence.


Also the micro elements such as, sound and editing helped to keep the audience engaged. At the start of the sequence the house is introduced along with a eery soundtrack in the background, this shows the audience the house is quite a dangerous place. Which engages them straight away into the sequence, so that can find out why the eery music is layered with the house. At the very end of the sequence we use silence to add tension. The victim falls over and the screen goes black, and there is just silence. Which adds tension as the audience are waiting for something to happen. It also makes them want to find out what is happening next so they keep watching. 
At 0:54 slow editing is used when the girl is escaping from the house, this makes the audience feel on edge because they want her to get out of the house, it also appeals to them as they will feel like they will be going on a journey with the victim. 

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my thriller opening sequence I had two main characters. My first main character is a female victim. I wanted her to be represented as your stereotypical teenage girl as this would make her a relatable character for our target audience as they would be a similar age and share similarities. Such as life experiences and what there focus is at the age e.g. boys and make-up. This allowed me to build up tension and make the audience feel sympathetic towards her as they would imagine themselves in her situation. I achieved this stereotypical look by the costume and hair and make-up. She was wearing a white dress, the white represented her innocence and we chose a dress as this is what we would expect a girl of this age to enjoy wearing. Also she had some basic make up on which is common of teenage girls and we would expect them to be wearing make-up. Her hair was long and dark, however it was slightly messed up to show the struggle that would have occurred when she got captured. Throughout we use high angles and cowering body language to show her vulnerability and innocence. Which is evident in my thriller at 0:46 when we see the victim with tape over her mouth and her eyes open.  This will make the audience feel empathy towards her as she is clearly weak and vulnerable. Also her facial expressions will appear sacred and lost, as this will help the audience to follow the sequence and what emotions the victim is feeling. We see this especially as 0:55 when the victim is escaping from the killers house and looks scared as she is making her way out. 

My next character was a male antagonist, I wanted him to appear dominating, over powering and psychotic, as this would give him a clear advantage over the victim which would make the audience feel uneasy. He wore dark clothing and a white mask, the dark clothing was to represent his dark/evilness and the white mask is used to conceal his identity. I can this these through out the thriller when the antagonist is in shot.  Furthermore, the whiteness of the mask represents his innocence from when he was a child and was abused by his mother.  The hidden identity of the killer would keep the audience engaged in the sequence as they would want to know who the killer was, this would mean they are more likely to jump and be sacred by the film. Throughout he used bold body language and we used low angles to show this, which shows the audience his power as a character. We see this especially at 1:08 when the antagonist walks powerfully out of the bushes. And again at 1:45 when the antagonist is walking towards the camera, with a dominant nature. Our killer would mostly appeal to our target audience due to them wanting to find out the man behind the mask however, his psychotic traits such as all of the photos if young girls on his walls would engage the audience due to his unpredictability.
I have represented gender stereotypically in my thriller opening sequence. it is commonly thought that men are stronger then women physically and mentally, this can be seen in my sequence as the male killer is very dominating and over powers the female victim. Additionally, men are stereotypically thought to be more aggressive and violent and this can be seen in my thriller sequence as the male antagonist has tied up the victim and chases her and kills her. It is commonly thought that women are portrayed to be a 'damsel in distress' and this can be shown in my sequence as the girl needs saving and is in trouble. Therefore i have followed these stereotypes within my thriller. This allowed women to build relationship with the female victim as they will stereotypically share the vulnerable characteristics and this will make her relatable to them. It also allowed men to build a relationship with the victim as they will have female friends that they are reminded of when watching the film. Also they will build a relationship with the antagonist as they will share similar characteristic traits to him.